The Role of the Roman Catholic Church During the...

Proving to be the paramount of the conflict between faith and reason, the European Enlightenment of the eighteenth century challenged each of the traditional values of that age. Europeans were changing, but Europe’s institutions were not keeping pace with that change.1 Throughout that time period, the most influential and conservative institution of Europe, the Roman Catholic Church, was forced into direct confrontation with these changing ideals. The Church continued to insist that it was the only source of truth and that all who lived beyond its bounds were damned; it was painfully apparent to any reasonably educated person, however, that the majority of the world’s population were not Christians.2 In the wake of witch hunts, imperial†¦show more content†¦. . [was] often confusing.6 The Church was fully capable of using obscure rituals and ceremonies in the everyday practice of their religion, but for a peasant to use such magic, however, it could be consi dered heresy. As Europe progressed through the Enlightenment, the Roman Catholic Church’s role as a mediator between the common populace and the supernatural became highly disputed.7 Protestantism had ultimately weakened the clergy by making religious controversy familiar to the common tides of Europe.8 The Church was seen as a bastion of religious intolerance and intellectual backwardness because the clergy simply refused to let go of their out-dated ideals in order to embrace scientific reasoning. A dogmatic Roman Catholic Church was one of the chief obstacles that the Enlightenment faced during the eighteenth century.9 This obstacle proved to be a problem not only for the emerging philosophers but also for the aristocracy. It was among those very idle aristocrats that the Enlightenment philosophers were to find some of their earliest and most enthusiastic followers.10 Despite the fact that the Roman Catholic Church and the monarchy were more often than not allied with each other, they were keenly aware of their differences.11 Kings could on occasion be tempted with thoughts of undermining the authority of the clergy. The fact that the aristocrats were utterly unaware of the precariousness of their position also made themShow MoreRelatedThe Early Middle Ages And Early Medieval Period Essay1435 Words   |  6 PagesDiocletian, in an attempt to overcome the faults and failures of the classical age, divided the empire into two empires: the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) and the Western Roman Empire. The transition into the late antiquity period was characterized by a sharp decline in population as a result of plagues, pandemics and war. 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